Sponsor

Sponsor

Jay Cooke State Park closed indefinitely

In front of the iconic swinging bridge at Jay Cooke State Park, or what's left of it following the heavy flooding which last week devastated northern Minnesota, a twisted metal fence marks where the water surged 20 feet.

Stone pillars on each side of the St. Louis River are all that remains of the original structure built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. That's a key reason state Department of Natural Resources officials decided to close the park south of Duluth, at least until the end of October.

"I think the water at its highest was 3 or 4 feet over the deck of the bridge," said Courtland Nelson, DNR Director of Parks and Trails. "So that gives you an idea of the depth and the power of the water. It was a storm of epic proportions."

The closing of the park is a blow to the DNR and the tourism industry in northeast Minnesota, but areas away from the park are encouraging tourists to visit. Officials hope for a big Fourth of July holiday to help reverse a post-flood slump in visitors.

But the damage was substantial. The pillars held up a lot better than sections of State Highway 210, the only road leading into the park. Flash floods washed out the road in four places. One left a gaping chasm in the highway nearly 100 feet deep and nearly 600 feet across.

A quarter mile away, an embankment of a small reservoir washed out, sending a towering wall of water cascading downhill, cleaving the highway in two, park manager Gary Hoeft said.

"One big rush of water coming through here, that's what stripped the bark off of the trees up about 20 feet on some of those white pines," he said.

It completely wiped out a stretch of forest 200 yards wide, shearing off trees at the base of their trunks. State Department of Transportation engineer Duane Hill said it will cost up to $40 million to repair just that small section of highway. Officials aim to reopen it by October.

In the meantime, the DNR is refunding 3,300 nights of cancelled camping reservations at Jay Cooke. The agency anticipates losing $175,000 in revenue while the park is closed.

A half hour away in Duluth, employees at the Comfort Suites in Canal Park are busy checking in guests and answering phones. Unlike the state park, Duluth is open for business. But General Manager Janell Mussman said after the flood it was tough convincing tourists of that.

"It was like we hit a brick wall," Mussman said. "All of a sudden people were calling, asking if we had fallen into the lake. They thought all of Duluth had been wiped off the face of the earth. We had to do a lot of educating, and even then people were nervous about coming to stay with us."

Mussman said some people didn't even believe her when she told them the hotel was open and that the vast majority of flood damage occurred in residential areas. She said her business has been off about 30 percent the past couple weeks. Typically during the summer months, the hotel is booked solid.

"We bank on acquiring more revenue during these high season months, so during winter time we can afford to keep going," she said.

But Mussman feels she's turned a corner this week. She said reservations are picking up. The hotel is full for the Fourth of July, as are many others across the city. Duluth typically packs 20,000 people into Bayfront Park for its annual fireworks show. Another 80,000 people watch from different vantage points around town.

"We need to turn this summer around, and what happens in the next five to ten days I think will be real telling," said Terry Mattson, CEO of Visit Duluth, the group that promotes tourism for the city.

Mattson said tourism-related businesses lost about $3 million in the wake of the flood. Even though there are signs of a turn-around, he said businesses are still nervous.

But Mattson is hopeful that funding for a new ad campaign approved by the City Council on Monday will help further erase lingering misconceptions that Duluth is underwater. The commercials, which will air in the Twin Cities, will show images of Duluth after the flood.

"We're still here; nothing has changed," Mattson said. "It's as beautiful as ever."

One thing that has changed is the language Duluth officials use to describe the flood. They now refer to it as a flash flood, emphasizing that while the water did cause extensive damage in some areas, it left most of the city unscathed.

The challenge is to get that message across to the rest of the state, during Duluth's busiest tourism month.

Gallery

Highway 210, the only road in and out of Jay Cooke State Park, washed out after the dike at Forebay Lake failed.Derek Montgomery for MPRView full galleryCourtland Nelson, left, director of parks and trails at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and Jay Cooke State Park manager Gary Hoeft discuss how damage from last month's heavy rains and flooding will impact the park's functionality for the remainder of the year.Derek Montgomery for MPRA section of the Willard Munger Trail near Jay Cooke State Park sustained damage after last month's heavy rains and flooding.Derek Montgomery for MPRWires on the swinging bridge at Jay Cooke State Park hang from the walkway Tuesday morning, July 3, 2012. The swinging bridge and park remain closed due to damage sustained when heavy rains June 19 and 20 caused flooding along the St. Louis River in the park.Derek Montgomery for MPRDebris from last month's heavy rains and flooding pile up on a cliff along the St. Louis River near the site of the swinging bridge at Jay Cooke State Park. The swinging bridge and park remain closed due to damage sustained when heavy rains June 19 and 20 caused flooding along the St. Louis River in the park.Derek Montgomery for MPRA section of Highway 210 was washed out after a dike was overtopped at Forebay Lake. The wall of water washed away a large swath of forest and left a nearly 100-foot deep gap in the highway. According to Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials, there was no waterway or stream here before the washout.Derek Montgomery for MPRPortions of the middle of Highway 210 sit near a culvert almost 50 feet below where the rest of the highway Tuesday morning, July 3, 2012, near Jay Cooke State Park.Derek Montgomery for MPRA section of Highway 210 meets a 50-foot drop-off where a culvert failed and the highway washed away Tuesday morning near Jay Cooke State Park.Derek Montgomery for MPRDuane Hill, Minnesota Department of Transportation district engineer, stands near the edge of a section of Highway 210 that washed out after last month's heavy rains and flooding heavily damaged Jay Cooke State Park and portions of Highway 210 surrounding the park.Derek Montogomery for MPRA section of Highway 210 near Jay Cooke State Park was washed out during last month's heavy rains and flooding near the park. This washout is nearly 50 feet deep.Derek Montgomery for MPRA section of Highway 210 near Jay Cooke State Park was washed out during last month's heavy rains and flooding near the park. This washout is nearly 50 feet deep.Derek Montgomery for MPRAfter a dike was overtopped at Forebay Lake during last month's heavy rains and flooding, a wall of water rushed nearly half a mile toward Highway 210 near Jay Cooke State Park and left a nearly 100 foot deep gap in the highway. The force of the wall of water and debris stripped the bark from trees that survived the flooding.Derek Montgomery for MPR